The Forgotten Warrior
by The Hunger Games RP2
Summary: Joseph Andrews is the District 2 tribute and is faced with many difficult decisions, whether in the games or outside of them. He was never one to be a fan of the Hunger Games, but he somehow found himself in the middle of one. Learn what the end of his journey is like in the Games, will he survive this short preview, or will he just be another forgotten face?


**Joseph Andrews of District 2**

* * *

**The 83rd Annual Hunger Games**

* * *

_"Love could be labeled poison and we'd drink it anyways." _

_-Atticus_

* * *

Joseph could feel the exhaustion catching up with him, it had been twelve days in an arena far more trying then he ever thought it could be. The ancient Greek ruins filled with lions, centaur looking creatures and plenty of other almost mythological like creatures was pushing him to his breaking point. His eyes grew tired as he guarded the careers camp, looking over at his sleeping district partner, Thalia Creed. He had grown to care for her, which surprised him. The two were nothing alike. He stared at the fire as he thought he heard some crackling near the tree line.

He quickly stood up, grabbing his sword and started to move towards it. He squinted, eyeing the forest as he heard another crack, his eyes widened. He quickly side stepped, a knife grazing his arm and creating a cut in his already tattered uniform. "Ow!" He hissed in frustration.

Eric Edwards, the District 8 male, stepped out of the shadows. Next to him was his district partner, was Katie Hays, who Joseph had actually grown to like. Eric practically growled at Joseph as he held tightly onto his large single ball medieval flail. "Move, I do not have an issue with you, that girl needs to be eliminated for what she has done, now move or you will die like she will." He growled.

Joseph gripped his sword, Eric was much larger then he was. Although he had trained for these games, he wasn't entirely sure he liked his odds with how much larger the District 8 tribute was. "Over my dead body!" Joseph hissed back at him. "Thalia, get up." He said quickly.

Thalia's head shot up as she looked over, seeing the pair from District 8, "Can't a girl get any sleep around here?" She said but a wicked smirk on her face as she stood up, grabbing her attachable claws.

Eric smirked and he ran a hand through his hair as he held the flail, "Ah well aren't you a rather protective? Hmm I warned you once, I don't think I will warn you again, but if you insist that I must kill you first, then by all means who am I to keep you from meaning your words?" He said, taking a step forward.

Joseph watched him, thinking to himself as he changed his stance, "I've been training my whole life for this." He said, though his voice wavered. He was never particularly fond of the games. He didn't like them, he tolerated them. But after what they did to his family, he hated them, yet here he was, in the middle of one.

Eric actually laughed, making Joseph almost flinch a little. "You're no challenge. I could knock you out with one punch. You're all talk _career_. That's all any of you District 2 dogs are."

Joseph glared at him and stepped forward, pulling a pocket knife from his sleeve and hurling at Eric. Eric didn't have time to react, it planting itself in its shoulder. "Eric!" Katie exclaimed.

"Is that enough bite for you?" Joseph sneered at him a little. Eric lurched a bit to the side and paused, glaring at Joseph and then pulled the knife out like it was nothing, tossing it onto the ground.

Eric clenched his fists, "Time to die District 2." He snapped and ran at Joseph, swinging his flail, the ball heading straight for his head. Joseph's eyes widened, almost like he wasn't expecting it. He quickly rolled past him, dodging the attack and then slashed at his legs from behind.

Katie moved forward quickly to help Eric when a knife whizzed right past her. She turned and saw Thalia, strapping her claws on and walking over towards her slowly. Almost like she wasn't worried that Katie wasn't a challenge at all, building the anticipation up.

Eric turned and tried to move out of the way, feeling the sword make a gash along his leg. He grunted out in pain, turning and slamming the flaily right down towards Joseph's chest. Joseph rolled out of the way as quickly as he could, hearing the loud _thump _that Eric's heavy weapon made on the ground. One hit from that spiked ball and he knew he would be a goner. As he managed to get back up to his feed he swung his sword at his chest as quickly as he could.

Eric smirked the kid was playing right into his hand, as Joseph slashed at his chest it was met with chain which quickly got tangled with the sword, and within moments Eric had Joseph by his throat and he was squeezing the life out of him, "Aww so predictable." He chuckled.

Joseph gasped and choked, his eyes darting around for Thalia. Joseph's vision started to get blurry but he could see well enough to know Thalia and Katie were nowhere around. He quickly tucked his legs closer to himself as Eric lifted him off the ground and then wrapped them around his neck, twisting and cutting off Eric's air way. As his grip loosened his gasped for air, "Pathetic... lower district." He gasped, but Eric was truly terrifying.

Eric struggled for air but thena ll of a sudden turned, swinging Joseph around and slamming his side into a tree, knocking the air out of him and causing him to gasp, falling onto the ground. Eric stumbled backward to gain his composure and catch his breath. He grabbed his flail and Joseph's sword, holding both of them as he stood there panting.

Joseph's eyes met with Eric, seeing the fire's reflection in them, which almost mortified him. Was he about to lose? Die at the hands of a untrained lower district tribute? Joseph stood up and ran at Eric quickly, Eric not expecting him to be charging with no weapons. Joseph jumped forward into a drop quick when Eric reacted, dropping both his weapons and grabbed his legs. He used the momentum to hurl the smaller District 2 tribute off to the side, causing him to tumble on the ground a few times. This resulted in several scraps, bruises and cuts along his knees and elbows.

Joseph staggered to his feet, realizing that Eric had retrieved his flail. "Let's... end this." Joseph breathed.

Eric smirked as he walked forward, "I couldn't agree more." He said.

Joseph moved forward towards the larger tribute and began throwing a few punches, hitting Eric straight in the face. Eric grabbed his arm and tossed him the other direction again, like it was nothing. This time he didn't let Joseph get away, bringing the flail right down on his leg, a loud crack could be heard as the ball collided with his leg. Joseph's scream echoed through the forest, blood also coming out quickly. "Thalia!" He cried out loudly.

Eric yanked the ball out of his skin as Joseph started to crawl away, gasping and writhing in pain on the dusty barren forest floor. "I told you, you shouldn't of gotten in my way." He sneered. Joseph reached out to the sword Eric had left on the ground, grabbing it and quickly turning in one motion and thrusting it up, impaling Eric.

"I told... you... over my... dead body." Joseph gasped and shoved it in even further, Eric gasping and staring at him in astonishment.

Thalia rushed out of the tree line, panting heavily, Joseph could only guess she had been chasing Katie. "What hurts?" She asked urgently.

"My leg... It's crushed." Joseph gasped in pain, watching Eric fall backwards onto the ground.

Thalia wrinkled her nose as she gently set a hand on it and started to wrap bandages around it. "Definitely broken... this will help the bleeding." She breathed. Joseph watched her, the fire practically illuminating her blonde hair. "Can you walk?"

"I-I don't know..." Joseph choked out.

"I'm gonna stabilize it a little more, but we need to go." Thalia said as she pushed the bone into a more firm place, Joseph screaming out louder in pain. "I know, I'm sorry. Let's get you up." She said.

Joseph choked out in pain, starting to stand with the help of Thalia. Joseph and Thalia limped away elsewhere, not too long later he heard a cannon, guessing it was for Eric. They made camp again, Joseph looking a feeling exhausted. "Thank you." He whispered.

"Of course. Get some sleep." Thalia said. "I'll keep watch." She said.

Joseph paused and didn't argue, laying his head on his backpack and didn't take long to fall asleep.

* * *

Joseph slept through the whole night, with ease. As he woke he sat up, looking down at his leg which had been re-bandaged. He looked over at Thalia who noticed he was awake, "Good morning." She stated, "I found you a walking stick." She said, gesturing to a large stick that was laying next to him.

He sat up more as he looked around, thinking to himself. "I... you have blood on you." He observed slowly. "Are you alright?"

Thalia paused and looked down, "Oh yeah, it's not mine. I ran into a tribute last night while you were sleeping. Cut her tongue out." She said with a proud smirk. That only made Joseph feel more nauseated then he already was. "Speaking of killing, I'm going to go out hunting. You're well hidden here, do you think you'll be okay?" She asked.

"What? You're going to go out hunting? Alone?" Joseph asked.

Thalia looked at him, "I can take care of myself Joseph." She said. "Besides, both the District 4 tributes are still out there. I should go find them. We should gather back together and figure out whose left to kill." She said seriously. "Not to mention the District 7 boy we... took in." She said, almost disapprovingly.

Joseph took a deep breath, "Please, just be careful." He said.

Thalia smirked a bit, "Always brain boy. I'll see you soon." She said and headed off.

Joseph felt like time was going by so slowly, He felt caged in the small rock shelter they had found last night. He paused as he thought he heard some beeping, struggling to get up with the walking stick, practically putting all his weight on it. He watched as the small metal box floated down to him. He sat back down and quickly started to open it, seeing ointment and two vials of poison from his mentor, Valia. He thought for a few moments, looking at the two vials and then put them into his pocket, remembering the conversation they had before the games.

Two cannons went off through out the day. Finally after 10 hours of being alone he heard crackling, quickly grabbing his sword. He watched and relaxed as he saw Thalia, and the District 7 boy, Bryce come.

"Relax, it's just us." Bryce said, kneeling down by him. "Wow Eric really got you didn't he?" He asked.

Joseph paused, "Yeah he did." He said and looked to Thalia, "Did you kill anyone?" He asked.

"Yes." Thalia said proudly, "Two. The District 10 boy and the District 3 girl." She said simply.

Bryce went to change his bandages, "You don't have to do that." He said quickly.

"We're allies, I got it." Bryce said with a gentle smile.

Joseph paused and watched him warily, looking to Thalia. "So what, there's six of us left?" He asked carefully. Thalia looked at him and just nodded simply. He paused as he thought about his odds starting to get better by the moment, but there was still the District 4 tributes, Bryce, Thalia and Katie left. He hesitated and reached for his sword, frowning as Bryce changed his bandages. He quickly grabbed his sword and plunged it into his back.

Thalia looked over, kind of surprised as Bryce gasped out loudly, "No!" He choked out, "Please...! Don't!" He exclaimed, gasping as he held himself up, the sword just planted all the way through him.

Joseph frowned even more, "I'm sorry." He said and yanked the sword out and then decapitated Bryce as quickly as possible.

"Well done Joseph." Thalia said as a cannon went off.

Joseph didn't even look at her, "Can we just... move camp. I'm... exhausted." He said, even though he hadn't done much that day. Thalia paused and din't say anything, helping Joseph up and started to make her way through the forest. Joseph entered the tree line with her, looking back at Bryce's head that just stared at them as they ventured off.

* * *

Joseph the next day had been walking for what he felt like had been forever, his leg throbbing and he couldn't take it anymore. "Thalia... I'm sorry... I just can't." He said.

Thalia watched him, "That's fine, we can rest." She said.

"No. Keep going." Joseph said, leaning against a tree. "I'll catch up with you, I'm sure. There aren't many of us left."

Thalia paused and looked conflicted, "Okay... I'm going to find the others. Just... don't die." She said.

Joseph smiled more, "I'll try not too." He said with a small laugh. He sat down on the ground, watching Thalia disappear. A few hours passed and he stood up again, starting to walk and struggled through the ruins and dwindling forest. He paused as he heard crackling again and he turned quickly. He looked around nervously, All of a sudden a small hyena type beast lunged out from the side and tackled him. "Ah!" He exclaimed.

Joseph fell backward as the beat sunk its teeth into his shoulders, his scream echoing the forest. He grabbed the smaller oddly furry mutt and threw it away from him. It scrambled a bit and Joseph grabbed his large walking stick, slamming it right onto its head as it lunged for Joseph again. The mutt whimpered out like a dog and Joseph slammed it onto it's head even hard, bashing its skull open. He panted heavily as he heard more rustling. He paused and started to walk faster, hearing a cannon go off.

His eyes widened a bit, "Thalia!" He called loudly, not caring if anyone heard him. He tried to hurry as fast as he could, the wound slowing him down and causing him severe pain. As he limped along, yet another cannon went off, signaling there were only 3 tributes left. "No... No, no, no. Thalia!" He screamed louder as he stumbled along rocks and old ruins, leaning on a few of the trees as well. He paused as he saw Thalia and Katie standing there, an obvious face off.

Thalia was smirking and let out a laugh, "You know the capitol can heel scars if you have the money. That's why I don't intend to keep any of these. But I sure would love to see the look on your family's face when your dead, cold body is delivered to them. And your once porcelain skin is marked by the one and only Thalia Creed."

Joseph paused and dropped his walking stick and started to move forward behind Katie, making eye contact with Thalia. "You're so cocky." Kate sneered a bit. Joseph pulled out one of the vials as he limped as silently as he could. He moved behind her, feeling searing pain in his shoulder but grabbed her hair, yanking her head back, causing her to gasp. He quickly poured the poison straight into her mouth and then let her go.

Katie tried to run away but her body was soon numb. Her legs gave out and she fell to the ground, her eyes going wide. She struggled to breathe and to keep her eyes open but they betrayed her and she went still, her eyes closing.

Joseph gasped a bit as he watched, tears forming in his eyes as the pain was starting to get overwhelming. Thalia paused and looked to Joseph, "What's wrong? You ok?" She asked quickly as she moved towards him.

Joseph felt tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked at her, his hands shakily moving towards hers, looking at her claws. "Thalia... What's about to happen... it's not fair." He said quickly, looking into her eyes, wondering what she was thinking. "And I'm sorry." He slowly took her hands and started to place them near his abdomens, the sharp claws nearing his skin.

She looked down confused then looked back up at him, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Joseph shut his eyes for a second, "I hope..." His voice trailed off, "I hope one day, you'll be able to understand..." He pushed himself forward, pushing himself onto his claws and kissed her as deeply as he could.

Thalia's eyebrows furrowed a little as she kissed back and pulled the claws away but it was too late, he had already made them stab him. Rapidly she blinked back tears, "No! Joseph what are you doing!" She exclaimed.

Joseph paused, "Find Felix." He gasped, blood pooling out of his mouth as he uncapped and shoved the vial of poison into her mouth.

Thalia's eyes widened as she gasped and stepped backward, her body going numb and slowly crumbling to the ground. Joseph fell to his knees and then fell backward, staring up at the sky as his vision went blurry, fading into darkness.


End file.
